Philippines:
All Promises, No implementaion
[Contribution under the Universal Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council by AITPN]
I. Human Rights Situation on
the ground
The
Philippines
despite having overthrown Ferdinand Marcos’ regime over two decades ago still
remain military oriented in its law enforcement. The armed conflicts with the
Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF),
Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), Communist Party of the
Philippines (CPP) and New Peoples’ Army (NPA) in the post September 11th period
give the excuse for politically motivated executions of the human rights
defenders including indigenous rights activists and journalists. Even the
judges were not spared!
a. Impunity for killing
defenders, journalists and judges:
Extrajudicial
killings and enforced disappearances remain endemic under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s rule. Since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came to power in 2001, hundreds of people
including human rights activists, lawyers, journalists and church workers,
leftist political activists and laymen have been killed. Most of the victims
were affiliated with cause-oriented groups, including leaders from indigenous
communities. According to Karapatan (
Alliance
for the
Advancement of People’s Rights), a total of 885 people have been killed
extra-judicially and 183 persons have disappeared from January 2001 to June
2007.1 More than 50 persons have been killed so far in 2007.2
Even
the judges were not spared. About 10 judges have been killed since Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo became President in 2001. In none of these
cases, the perpetrator was brought to justice. Many judges have also been
threatened.3 If the judges are not safe, who else will
be safe in this country?
In
the wake of severe criticism over systematic extrajudicial killings, on 21
August 2006, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued
Administrative Order No. 157 to set up “Independent Commission to Address Media
and Activist Killings” (also known as Melo Commission) headed by former Supreme Court Justice Jose Melo to investigate the killings and to submit recommendations to the President on
policies and actions, including appropriate prosecution of the guilty and
legislative proposals to end such killings. Justice Melo once worked as assistant to Mrs. Arroyo’s late father, President Diosdado Macapagal. President
Arroyo claimed that the recommendations of the Melo Commission have been followed and 76 criminal cases on political killings were
on trial, 33 being prepared for prosecution as of mid-October 2007. While six
persons including a former police sergeant and a former soldier have allegedly
been convicted4, the detailed information about those accused was not made
public. Unless rank and file of the guilty security personnel is disclosed, the
claims of the government cannot be taken on its face value.
Earlier
on 12 May 2006, President Arroyo’s administration formed the Task Force Usig, a Philippine National Police (PNP) body led by Deputy
Director General Avelino Razon.
The police as expected gave a clean chit to the government. It proclaimed
“There is no government policy —official or unofficial, formal or informal,
written or covert — to suppress political dissent and fundamental
constitutional freedoms, much less torture or murder critical journalists,
leftist elements or the political opposition.” It further accused 23 of the 111
activists killed of having links to the Communist Party of the Philippines
(CPP) and New People’s Army (NPA).5
b. Indigenous peoples:
Disproportionate victims of human rights violations
Indigenous
peoples of
Philippines
have been disproportionate victims of the human rights violations in the socalled war against terror. They have also been the
primary targets of evictions from their ancestral domains because of
unsustainable development activities like mining and logging in their lands and
territories.
The
indigenous rights defenders have been systematically eliminated. According to
the Indigenous Peoples Human Rights Watch, 123 indigenous persons were killed
from 2001 February to 11 January 2007, including 42 deaths in 2006.6 On 3 October
2007, environmental activist Armin Marin of Sibuyan in Romblon was killed
while town residents were staging a protest against Sibuyan Nickel Property Development Corporation.7 On 8 June 2006, indigenous leader
Markus Bangit from Cordillera was killed.8 There has
not been any accountability for these killings.
The
adoption of the Mining Act of 1995 and the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold
its constitutional validity removed all legal obstacles for mining operations
in the country.9 The Cordillera Peoples Alliance stated that 1.2 million
hectares of the Cordillera’s total land area of 1.8-million hectare were
already covered by foreign corporations’ mining applications.10 According to
Federation of Indigenous Peoples of the Philippines (KAMP) more than 16,000
indigenous small scale miners and more than 100,000 indigenous peasant families
will lose their livelihood sources if the government approves the mining
applications. Two projects, the Teresa Gold Project in Mangkayan and Padcal Sto. Tomas Copper
Expansion Project in Tuba, were already under operation.11
Indigenous
peoples have also been displaced as a result of the conflicts. According to
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, an estimated 100,000 peoples were
displaced from their homes due to armed conflict and human rights abuses in
2006.12
c. Violations of the rights of
women
Women
face serious human rights violations, including sexual violence. According to
Senate President Manuel Villar, an average of 20
cases of violence against women is reported everyday in the country.13 The
Philippines National Police recorded 253 rapes in January and February 2007.14
The provisions in the Code of Muslim Personal Laws which permit the marriage of
girls under 18 years and polygamy; and the policy of some schools dismissing an
unmarried female student (but not her male partner) if she got pregnant15 are
highly discriminatory against the girls.
The
women do not have proportionate representation in the Parliament. Presently,
there are only four women out of 24 members in the Senate and 56 women out of
the 236 members in the House of Representatives.16
d. Violations of the rights of
the child
The
implementation of the laws on juveniles is extremely poor. According to the
Department of Social Welfare and Development, there were 4,039 children in
conflict with the law in the country as of July 2007. Of these, more than 300
were detained at the New Bilibid Prisons, 590 were
locked up in city jails, 406 in police detention cells, among others, in
violation to the Republic Act No. 9344 also called the Juvenile Justice Welfare
Act of 2006. More than 1,000 children in conflict with law were languishing in
sub human conditions in jails together with adult criminals.17
According
to the Salinlahi Alliance for Children’s Concerns, 60
children or seven percent of the victims of extrajudicial killings recorded by
the human rights group from 2001 to 2007 in the Autonomous Region of Muslim
Mindanao (ARMM) were children.18
e. Violations of the rights of
the prisoners
Prison
conditions remain deplorable due to overcrowding, sub-standard facilities and
lack of basic facilities. This has reportedly been confirmed by International
Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) which is allowed to visit prisons.19 There were about 35,000 inmates who fought for space in
jails maintained by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in 2001. The
number increased to 69,500 as of October 2007. Overcrowding resulted in spread
of diseases such as tuberculosis and sanitation problems. As per government
estimates, the population in government jails could reach to more than 114,930
by 2010. However, new facilities are being made.20
II.
State
’s
human rights obligations and commitments
There
are several provisions in the 1987 constitution and several national
legislations in the
Philippines
which uphold the rights of the citizens including the indigenous peoples. Yet,
these are not implemented in practice.
a. Constitution: Political
autonomy
The
1987 Constitution of Philippines recognizes the right of Muslims and indigenous
peoples of Cordillera to self-determination in the form of autonomy. But there
has not been genuine autonomy for the Cordillera peoples. The indigenous peoples of Cordillera rejected
two Organic Acts for Cordillera Regional Autonomy of 1990 and 1998 because of
the failure of the Acts to grant self-governance and control over their land
and natural resources.21 The same is being followed with regard to the Moros in
Mindanao
.
b. Draconian anti-terror law:
Human Security Act of 2007
The
Human Security Act (HAS) of 2007 is a disingenuous attempt to fool
international community. It is actually the latest anti-terror law and empowers
the security forces to detain suspects without warrant or charges up to three
days which can be extended beyond three days by approval from a human rights
officer under section 19 of the HSA. A conviction for terror offences could
result in a 40-year jail sentence without the benefit of parole.22 Article III,
Section 3 of the 1987 Constitution provides that any evidence obtained through
wiretapping or voice recording cannot be used in any court proceeding. But the
new law allows the state to use tape recorded evidence to pin down a suspect,
in violation of the 1987 Constitution.23
c. Indigenous Peoples Rights
Act, 1997
In
1997, the government of the
Philippines
adopted the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA). The Act created the National
Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) mandated to formulate and implement
policies, plans and programs for the recognition, promotion and protection of
the rights and well-being of Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples
(ICC/IPs) with due regard to their beliefs, customs,
traditions and institutions.
d. Land Titling: Long delays
In
the Philippines, there are an estimated five million hectares of ancestral
domains exists based on combined pending claims for direct application for CADT
and claims for conversion of Certificate of Ancestral Domain Claim (CADC) into
Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT). The figure could be much higher
as lack of accurate data on the actual extent and location of ancestral domains
and lands nationwide continue to affect the efficient planning, targeting and
implementation of ancestral domain and land titling.24
Lack
of funds and boundary disputes delay the processing of ancestral land titles.
According to NCIP Ancestral Domain Bureau director Myrna Cagaoas,
NCIP has issued a total of 150 Certificates of Ancestral Land Titles and 56 CADTs comprising an area of 1,114,857.17 hectares as of 4
January 2007. The NCIP could not fund all the processes since the agency’s
budget for ancestral domain is merely Pesos 31 million a year.25 In fact, the
first CADT comprising ancestral domain of 29,444.34 hectares was issued to the Bago tribe of Bakun, Benguet only on 20 July 2002 and another covering 11,811.6
hectares was issued to the Manobo tribe of Lanuza, Surigao Province on 30
November 2002 after almost five years of IPRA implementation.26
III. Enhancement of State’s
capacity
Most
of the capacity building programmes are focused on
Philippines
’
National Human Rights Commission. The Human Rights Council should emphasize for
capacity building programmes of the National
Commission on Indigenous Peoples including for titling of the lands of the
indigenous peoples.
IV. Cooperation with HRC,
Treaty Bodies and OHCHR
The
government of
Philippines
has failed to extend Open invitation/Standing invitation to the Special
Procedures. Since 2003, only Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary
executions (12 to 21 February 2007) has been invited to visit.
The
government of
Philippines
has ratified most instruments but seldom implements the same at national level.
The government of Philippines also failed to submit periodic reports under
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination since 1998; under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment since 1992; under International
Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members
of Their Families since July 2004, under
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of
children child prostitution and child pornography sine June 2004, under the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights since November 2006, and
under Convention on the Rights of the Child since September 2007.
In
a nutshell, the government of
Philippines
neither implements the Treaties nor has anything to report to the Treaty
Bodies.
